Street-car fender.



PATENTED JAN. 9

W. MARTIN.

. STREET CAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1. 1905.

F 1 d p 8 3 a M s 4 2 w 0 I a y. 6 7 3 a 1 W 11 WVILLIAM MARTIN, OFVILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

STREET-CAR FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed Jan. 9, 1906.

Application filed September 1, 1905. Serial No. 276,723-

To (LAZ 107mm. it m/ug concern:

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM MARTIN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Vilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStreet-Car Fenders, of whichthe following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements instreet-car fenders.

The general type of construction involved is a fender which is manuallyor foot operated and which drops into working position by gravity andwhich is returned by manual or foot operated means to the initialposition and is held in such position by said means.

The fender niore particularly embodies two sections-a stationary sectionsupported from beneath the body of the car and a section hinged to saidstationary section and connected with the operating lever by simplemeans. The operating-lever is given free movement by a spring-controlleddog which is adapted to be released by the foot, means being providedfor moving the lever so as to operate'the connections and cause thehinged fender to assume a position with its end flush with the tracks orroad-bed.

The detail construction will appear in the course of the description, inwhich reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which likenumerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a part ofthe car. Fig 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlargedlongitudinal section through the operatinglever. Fig. 4 is an enlargedperspective view of the corner of the stationary fender, showing themanner in which it is hinged to the car.

The bottom 1' of the car is formed at the platform end thereof with anopening 2, and secured to said platform adjacent to said opening arebearings 3 of a conventional form, in which is fulcrumed or centered at4. a lever 5, provided with a foot-plate 6. A pawl 7 is also fulcrumedin said bearings in the rear of said lever and is held to and inengagement with a notch 8 in said lever by means of a spring 9, havingits one end secured to the floor of the car, as at 10, and bearing withits outer end against the rear portion of the pawl 7. Fulcrumed' to thelower end of the lever 5 is a link 11, which has movement in bearings12, supported beneath the car, and which has pivotal connection at itsother end, as at 13, with a trans verse rod 13 loosely mounted inoppositelydisposed levers 14, depending from the rod 13. Mounted beneaththe floor in bracketsupports 15 is a stationary fender 16, which, asshown, is constructed of metal, although the ordinary rope mesh or anyother fender construction may be employed. The fender 16 carries in therear thereof a pair of oppositely-disposed apertured brackets 17, inwhich is fulcrumed, as at 18, the levers 14, previously mentioned. Thefender 16 constitutes what we will term for the sake of brevity thestationary fender, and hinged to the end thereof is a fender 19. Thefender 19 is hinged to the fender 16 by means of con necting-rod 20,which passes through the bent portions 21 upon said fenders 16 and 19.The portions 21 are bent into substantially annular shape and severallyinterfit. Fulcrumed to the lower end of the levers 14, as at 22, arelongitudinal rods 23, which extend beneath the stationary fender 16 andthe hinged fender 19 and are fulcrumed, as at 24, to depending brackets25, carried by the latter. In order to strengthen the structure in itsposition depending from the car, curved braces 26 are employed, whichare connected to the fender 16, adjacent the bottom thereof, and to thebottom 1 of the car.

My invention is so constructed that the gravity of the hinged fender 19would or dinarily be suflicient to depress the same when the lever 5 isreleased from engagement with the pawl 7 but should the bearings becomechoked and not work freely, so that the gravity action of the fender 19is not su'l'licient to lower the same, a spring 27 is interposed in theslot 2 between the wall thereof and the lever 5, which at its lower endpositively engages said lever and throws the lat' ter forward, therebyinsuring a positive oper ation of the various parts.

In operation should an obstacle rest upon the tracks 28 and it isdesired to lower the hinged fender in position to engage said obstaclethe motorman depresses the pawl 7 out of the notch 8, and the spring 27will then act to engage the lower end of the lever 5 and throw saidlever forward. The link 11 is then thrown forward, and the lower ends ofthe levers 14 are swung upon their fulcrums 18 to the rear and carryingwith them the rods 23, which at their fulcrums 24 will swing the fender19 downwardly and cause the same to assume the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1. The fender 19 will then lie flush with the surface ofthe tracks or the road-bed, so as to receive an obstacle lying upon saidroadbed. When it is desired to restore the fender to initial orinoperative position, the motorman pushes forwardly the lever 5, and asthe upper end of the same moves forwardly it will throw the link 11 tothe rear, moving forward the lower ends of the levers 14 and in sodoing, through the medium of the connecting-rods 23, raise the hingedfender 19. At

the completion of this operation the spring 9 will act upon the pawl 7to force the same into the notch 8, formed in the lever 5, and therebylock said lever and the parts connected thereto against furtheroperation.

It is obvious that various minor changes may be made in myinvention bothin the form of the elements employed and in their positions upon thecar. Such changes, however,

will fall under the scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims. For example, see Fig. 4, in which the bent ends 21 of thestationary fender 16 are caused to overlap the body portion of thefender instead of merely meeting the same, as in'Fig. 1. Thisconstruction, where the metal is of considerable weight, adds rigidityto the structure, another example of change which must be made to answercertain variations in the street-car construction being the location ofthe fulcrum between the stationary fender 16 and the hinged fender 19.This fulcrum instead of being at an intermediate point between thefenders may be at any desired point, even entirely in the rear of thefender 16 or as far back as the supportingbracket 15, as in dotted linesin Fig. 1.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. Afenderembodying a stationary section supported beneath the floor of the car,and a section hinged thereto, a lever fulcrumed in bearings secured tothe floor of the car, means operatively connecting said lever with saidhinged section, whereby to impart movement to the latter when said leveris moved, means to hold said lever normally against movement, means forpositively imparting movement to said lever when released by saidholding means.

2. A fender embodying a stationary section, a section hinged thereto, alever fulcrumed in bearings secured to the floor of the car, meansoperatively connected to said hinged section and to said lever,spring-held means for holding said lever, and adapted to be releasedfrom engagement therewith, means for imparting movement to said leverwhen released by said holding means.

3. A fender embodying a stationary section, supported by the floor of acar, and a section hinged to said stationary section, a lever fulcrumedin bearings secured to the car, means operatively connecting said leverwith said hinged section whereby to vary the movement of the same withthe movement of said lever, means to lock said lever against movement,means for imparting movement to said lever when released by said lockingmeans, said lever being adapted to be moved by the foot, and therebyrestored to initial position, and means for returning said lock-' ingmeans into positive engagement with said lever when the latter has beenrestored to initial position.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

' WILLIAM MARTIN. Witnesses:

O. KLosTERMANN, C. A. RUDOLPH.

